February 13th

The firebombing of Dresden took place on February 13th, 1945 and as the book tells us, killed 135,000 people. Billy and other prisoners of war lived through the bombing. The date February 13th is important because it is also the day Billy dies.

"I, Billy Pilgrim, the tape begins, will die, have died, and always will die on February thirteenth, 1976" (141). Billy dies exactly 31 years after the firebombing of Dresden. I found this to be a little ironic because he lived through the bombing but died in Chicago after addressing a large crowd about the true nature of time. While Billy did not die in the war he did die because of the war as he was shot by Paul Lazzaro or someone Lazzaro had hired. Obviously, the choice to make Billy die the same day Dresden was bombed was a conscious decision made by Kurt Vonnegut. 

So, why did Vonnegut decide to have Billy be shot on the same day Dresden was bombed? And, what significance does it have if any?